diff --git a/test/integration/yaml_suite/index.js b/test/integration/yaml_suite/index.js
index 2161f495f..04521c765 100644
--- a/test/integration/yaml_suite/index.js
+++ b/test/integration/yaml_suite/index.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ var path = require('path'),
   Minimatch = require('minimatch').Minimatch;
 
 var argv = require('optimist')
-  .default('executable', path.join(process.env.ES_HOME, './bin/elasticsearch'))
+  .default('executable', process.env.ES_HOME ? path.join(process.env.ES_HOME, './bin/elasticsearch') : null)
   .default('clusterName', 'yaml-test-runner')
   .default('dataPath', '/tmp/yaml-test-runner')
   .default('hostname', 'localhost')
diff --git a/test/integration/yaml_suite/server.js b/test/integration/yaml_suite/server.js
index bfffa03a9..065e8170b 100644
--- a/test/integration/yaml_suite/server.js
+++ b/test/integration/yaml_suite/server.js
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ var childProc = require('child_process'),
 
 exports.start = function (params, cb) {
 
-  if (!fs.existsSync(params.executable)) {
-    return cb(new Error('unable to find elasticsearch executable'));
+  if (!params.executable || !fs.existsSync(params.executable)) {
+    return cb(new Error('unable to find elasticsearch executable, ' +
+      'set ES_HOME env var to the instalation path of elasticsearch'));
   }
 
   var server = childProc.spawn(